Author Dreger to discuss research freedom Sept. 24

September 23, 2015

Author Dreger to discuss research freedom Sept. 24

Alice Dreger

Alice Dreger, a bioethicist, author and former professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, will present her thoughts on how freedom of research is being challenged during a Sept. 24 discussion at the Nebraska Union Auditorium.

Her talk, “Galileo’s Middle Finger: Why Social Progress Depends on the Protection of Academic Freedom,” takes place at 6 p.m. Sept. 24. Her comments will be derived from her recent book, “Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists and the Search for Justice in Science,” which has been reviewed in Nature, Science, The New York Times, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dreger will share her thoughts on ways freedom of research is under assault from multiple fronts –including, in her view, identity-politics activism, the corporatization and branding of universities and social-media shaming campaigns.

Dreger, an intersex patient-rights activist and academic historian, uses case studies to talk about the dangers facing researchers. She also will speak to how they can work individually and collectively to protect themselves, not for their own sake but for the sake of social progress.

The talk is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology through the John L. Champe Memorial Lecture Fund.